Chapter 306: One Strike to Kill

"We can win!" Zhao Pan felt settled in his heart and laughed loudly, "Lads, push these bastards back to the riverbank; I want to see that old thief Nian jump into the river with my own eyes!"

With this order as the boundary, the Yuan people passed the initial panic and began to settle down to organize a counterattack.

The army began to counter-push from the contraction, topping back north bit by bit.

Every point of advancement was accompanied by blood flowing like a river.

However, the Xunzhou army did not return to the riverbank but topped back west under pressure.

The terrain to the west was higher, and behind it was a large stretch of wilderness.

They also understood that if they were forced to the riverbank and still couldn't win, there would be only a dead end.

He Lingchuan waved the Tenglong spear and killed several people in succession, hearing a scream not far away; it was a Yuan soldier whose head had been smashed by a cannon, half his scalp lifted and hanging by his ear, about to fall off. Borrowing the firelight, He Lingchuan could even see red and white matter seeping out of his skull.

He fell to the ground and couldn't get up, but didn't die for a while, only knowing to reach out to the crowd, wailing endlessly.

He Lingchuan was soft-hearted in the end and shot a spear, piercing through his throat.

This person died immediately, which was a relief.

He Lingchuan looked at the battlefield situation during the interval of pulling out the spear, only to see that both sides were vast seas of people, shouts of killing and screams intertwined, and there were cannons and catapults assisting, with earth and stones splashing and flesh and blood flying.

This scene could be called purgatory.

In a trance, he remembered that whether in reality or in a dream, this was the first time he had personally experienced a large-scale battle, with sixty or seventy thousand people on both sides fighting.

Chaos was the main theme here, and individual strength was insignificant in such a large-scale battle.

However, he had just given birth to such a trace of realization when more than a hundred riders suddenly rushed out of the woods not far behind the Yuan army, heading straight for the Yuan army's commander-in-chief.

The closer they got, the faster they accelerated.

The horses were good horses, and the riding skills were even more superb. Along the way, the Yuan soldiers either didn't react in time or, just as they were about to swing their blades, were slashed under the horse by the others!

In the great melee, these hundred-plus riders were like a sharp knife inserted into the heart of the Yuan army. And the rider at the "tip of the knife" had a terrifying momentum, cutting the enemy like cutting vegetables, as if entering no man's land.

On his path forward, some soldiers were even blown away by the surging air waves before they could get close.

In just a few breaths, these hundred-plus riders stepped on the noisy smoke and dust, tearing open the Yuan army's outer defense.

He Lingchuan glanced back, his pupils shrank, and he immediately urged his horse to rush toward the high ground:

The person running at the very front of that team—wasn't it Hong Chenglue! He grasped the timing with extreme precision; the Xunzhou soldiers were being pushed back by the Yuan army, so the Yuan army naturally had to divert troops to chase toward the riverbank, and the number of people around the commander-in-chief naturally decreased.

But no matter how few, that layer of close guards still had four or five hundred people, all Yuan army elites.

When people were panicked and horses were chaotic, no one noticed He Lingchuan throwing something over.

Hong Chenglue seemed not to put them in his eyes at all; the guards shouted and stepped forward to intercept, but Hong Chenglue kicked the horse's belly, the steed accelerated suddenly, and he took the opportunity to swing his arm and throw the long spear like a javelin! The momentum and speed of this move were truly not inferior to the Great Wind Army.

And the spear body crackled with blue light, all the way with sparks and lightning, actually attached with the power of thunder! Its speed was so fast that two elite guards on the side failed to intercept it.

The spear tip pointed directly at He Chunhua, who was under the protection of the crowd! Hong Chenglue had endured in the forest for a long time; even when the Xun people were defeated and retreating north, he turned a blind eye, single-mindedly waiting for a good opportunity to settle the score with the murderer of his wife.

He Chunhua had just turned his head when he saw thunder and lightning flashing, dazzling his eyes, scaring him out of his wits.

He wanted to hide, but the powerful aura of this spear locked onto him, actually suppressing him so he couldn't move, not even able to turn his neck.

Hong Chenglue concentrated the primordial power of more than a hundred people on himself, determined to succeed in one strike.

Watching the long spear arrive in a flash, about to pierce through He Chunhua's skull, but at this very moment, yellow light flickered one zhang in front of He Chunhua, and a tall figure stood as steady as a mountain, blocking He Chunhua completely! That long spear pierced through this figure with a "puff," entering from the front and exiting from the back, piercing it through.

Although its momentum was not exhausted and it wanted to rush out to pierce He Chunhua, this figure reached out to grab the spear tail and pulled it out and threw it away! There was no blood on the wound, and lightning raged all over its body, but it still stood with its head held high, facing Hong Chenglue.

The soldiers on the side were all exclaiming in surprise, feeling very lucky.

The sweat on He Chunhua's temples only then began to flow down.

Blocking in front of him was a golden-armored bronze man over a zhang and five tall! He naturally knew that this was the toy his son had newly built, and he had even seen it strolling in the small woods two days ago. He Chunhua hadn't expected it to come in handy so quickly.

If not for the bronze man acting as a meat shield, he would probably have had his head taken off even while surrounded by a hundred troops.

Although his vision was blocked and He Chunhua didn't have time to see the attacker's face clearly, he guessed who it was immediately, and his heart turned cold.

The unease of these past few days had come true; Hong Chenglue had indeed come.

There was a deep feud between them, and one of them had to die here.

The golden-armored bronze man appeared out of thin air, knocking down two Yuan riders; Hong Chenglue was only three zhang away from it, and at the current speed of the horse, wasn't it there in a blink? Everyone saw Hong Chenglue almost crash into the golden-armored bronze man's arms, horse and all! Such astonishing impact force made even the golden-armored bronze man, with its steady lower body, stagger and take a step back before standing firm.

Naturally, under He Lingchuan's control, it wouldn't miss this opportunity, closing its arms in a bear hug, wanting to squeeze Hong Chenglue against its chest.

He Lingchuan had learned this move from Meng Shan.

It was a pity that Hong Chenglue's movements were as agile as his had been then; although the horse crashed into the bronze skin and iron bones and broke its tendons and bones, wailing long and sadly, Hong Chenglue himself took the opportunity to jump up, his waist blade unsheathed!

The fierce brilliance of that blade was hard to describe in words.

The golden-armored bronze man's movements paused, and a crack appeared on its thick neck.

If it were a human, blood would have splashed angrily from the neck at this time.

Hong Chenglue stepped on its shoulder for leverage and pounced toward He Chunhua again.

Just blocked by the golden-armored bronze man, He Chunhua turned around and ran wildly in the opposite direction, not caring about being disheveled.

It was a pity that he was surrounded by people, which instead became an obstacle on the road.

He Chunhua simply hid behind two tall men.

Hong Chenglue pounced, not caring how brave these two were, and cut them in half with one blade!

Just at this moment, he caught a glimpse of cold light flashing from the corner of his eye; it was a long blade thrown at him.

The blade aura was fierce; Hong Chenglue didn't dare to be careless, and the strike he had been accumulating had to be canceled halfway to knock the blade away first.

With a crisp "ding," the Floating Life Blade flew away sideways.

He Chunhua took advantage of this time to grab something from his sleeve.

Hong Chenglue laughed long, his figure flashed, and he suddenly leaned behind He Chunhua, swinging his blade backward!

Three or four rays of light burst out from He Chunhua's body, all appearing and then vanishing. Those were protective magic tools being activated, only to be instantly shattered.

Taking advantage of this time, he ran one more step.

"Father!" He Lingchuan had just arrived on horseback and was shocked to see this.

Because he watched Hong Chenglue's blade tip graze He Chunhua's side neck! Agile, fast... ruthless! He Chunhua lost his balance and fell to the ground, clutching his neck.

Hong Chenglue was about to step forward to check when there was a slight sound of wind behind his head. He tilted his head sharply, only to see that long blade shooting from the air.

At that angle, there was no one.

Did this weapon have the ability to circle and pursue? At the critical moment, Hong Chenglue knocked it away again.

The long blade spun twice in the air and flew into He Lingchuan's hand.

It had the characteristic of not stopping until it hurt someone, but the master was now summoning it back to defend against the enemy.

As soon as the blade was in hand, the Qingbo beast accelerated, and He Lingchuan passed Hong Chenglue.

With a "clang" of metal clashing, the lingering sound was long, and the raised air wave knocked the surrounding soldiers to the ground.

He Lingchuan on the horse also leaned backward, his tiger's mouth splitting and bleeding.

His strike just now, filled with all his strength and primordial power, plus the full horsepower of the Qingbo beast, finally swung the most perfect wave slash to date.

Essence, Qi, and Spirit were all at their peak.

Even the tent pillar more than a bowl thick, a zhang behind Hong Chenglue, was broken in the middle.

However, this blade swung out as if hitting a pillar in the middle of a stream, not only failing to cut Hong Chenglue in two, but He Lingchuan himself was shaken until his tiger's mouth split and his internal organs felt like they had been hit by a heavy hammer.

You know, Hong Chenglue was standing on the ground, moving from stillness, and took his blade head-on.

Just from this one round of exchange, He Lingchuan basically judged that Hong Chenglue's ability was probably not inferior to Commander Xiao's.

Hong Chenglue himself also retreated three big steps in a row, each footprint pressed deeper than the previous one. Only then did he barely unload the impact force on his body, so he wouldn't sit on the ground with a thud.

He Lingchuan was uncomfortable, and he wasn't feeling well either; his precious blade almost flew out of his hand, and the force from the opponent's blade edge traveled through, one fire and one ice, drilling into his meridians, which would cause big trouble if not handled in time.

Only he himself knew that his blood was surging in his chest, and his internal organs were truly shaken.

The blade this boy slashed out was full of spirit, and the angle and killing intent were impeccable; the only lack was perhaps that it wasn't tricky enough.

If he were allowed to grow, in less than five years, the Yuan Nation would have another great general.

Thinking of this, Hong Chenglue's killing intent surged.

He recognized this kid; a few days ago at the Hundred-Call Valley negotiations, this kid was standing beside He Chunhua and should be the eldest son of this dead official, He Lingchuan.

Baili Qing had his arm severed by him; now it seemed that his defeat wasn't unjust.

It's a pity, how could a treacherous person like He Chunhua deserve such a fierce son?

It's a pity that after such a delay, the surrounding Yuan soldiers surged like a tide, surrounding Hong Chenglue in the middle and separating him from the He father and son layer by layer.

Hong Chenglue could only look at He Lingchuan with regret.

He Lingchuan couldn't care about finding trouble with him anymore and jumped off the horse to check on He Chunhua: "Father!"

He had lived with the He family for several months since his transmigration, and his relationship with this cheap father He Chunhua was actually subtle, both distant and wary. However, seeing him fall to the ground with a knife wound to a vital spot, He Lingchuan's heart jumped to his throat.

He Chunhua was the commander-in-chief of the Xiazhou army; how could he fall at this time!

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 307 =====